Secret Sales attracts 700 brands to the platform in year one, 200 more in pipeline

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
May 13, 2021

A growing number of fashion brands and retailers are switching from traditional clearance channels to its premium e-commerce marketplace for fashion and beauty, Secret Sales claims after its first year in business.

And to prove the point, in the last 12 months over 700 individual brands across 120 retailers and designer houses have now gone live with Secret Sales, “with many appointing the marketplace as their sole or primary clearance channel in the UK”.  
 
Secret Sales also said it has recently signed contracts, or is in the process of finalising terms, with a further 200 brands and retailers to go live over the next year.

In all, over 300,000 SKUs are now live on the site and Secret Sales forecasts one million SKUs by the end of 2021. Its marketplace has also been visited by 18 million unique shoppers during its first year, it claims.   

The company said it’s “changing the fashion clearance landscape as companies move away from viewing the practice in terms of cash recovery and partner with the platform to implement a long-term strategy for non-full-price (NFP) inventory that protects brand equity, improves margins and drives new customer acquisition… as they seek sustainable, brand-enhancing and profitable ways to sell excess stock”.  
 
Working with fashion companies including Dolce & Gabbana, Dune, Jigsaw, Ted Baker and Yumi, Secret Sales said it provides a "unique, direct-to-consumer digital platform that aligns with each brand’s existing e-commerce and logistics operations, allowing them to sell non full price goods without eroding full-price sales".

Chris Griffin, CEO of Secret Sales, said: “Brands want to protect their image, sales margin and remain in control of inventory. The fashion industry is moving away from conventional routes as they are brand-corrosive. The pandemic simply accelerated the inevitable conversation: ‘how do I clear stock without damaging my brand and still make money’?”
 
Endorsing the brand, Uttam Nepal, CEO of Yumi International, said: “Secret Sales is a long-needed channel to trade promotional inventory earlier in the life of the product rather than having to use brand-damaging closeout channels."

Matteo Armillotta, CEO of In Moda, global distributor of Versace 19v69 also said: “Since launching on Secret Sales, we have been delighted with the sales achieved in a very short period of time. The platform is quick to set up and gives us the flexibility to trade stock when we need to, rather than selling in bulk to other businesses at the end of the season. This has meant a better return on margin and faster cash intake into the business”.